Primary-only trust raids reserves as pupil numbers dip

England’s biggest primary-only trust has been forced to raid its reserves – while another with just one secondary has been handed £1 million to help it to close.

The cases once again highlight the financial pressures majority-primary MATs are facing as pupil numbers fall and the SEND crisis deepens.

Micon Metcalfe, a school finance expert, said: “It is challenging and it’s going to become more challenging. It’s something individual trusts have to navigate very carefully.”

REAch2 dipped into its reserves after racking up an in-year deficit of just over £2.1 million in the past academic year, accounts have revealed.

It also forked out £481,000 in redundancy payments, which the trust said, allowed it to introduce “a central service model to support our schools… leading to significant savings”.

The shift “is more than just about ensuring financial sustainability”, it stressed, it will also ensure the MAT’s 62 academies “have the support they need”. Cathie Paine, its chief executive, said the “rise in children with SEND” contributed to its deficit.

The identification of “significant savings” for 2024-25 contributed to “a revised deficit position of £0.5 million”.

“We recognise the unique challenges posed by being a primary-only trust within an increasingly volatile financial landscape,” she said.

£1m to cover closure costs

Meanwhile, the latest accounts for the Diocese of Bristol Academies Trust show the Department for Education handed it £1 million of “additional funding” in 2024-25 to cover closure costs.

It decided to shut after its only secondary, The Deanery in Swindon, was rated ‘inadequate’ and confirmed for rebrokerage.

The trust concluded it “was unsustainable” without the academy, and that its remaining 14 schools “should be transferred to other trusts”.

Rachel Parr, its CEO, said the reasons for the closure “were a mixed picture. If it did continue without the Deanery, it would have required a revised financial model.”

Metcalfe added more trusts might pool funding and move away from “a headteacher, business manager, SENco in every school” to “deliver education when pupil numbers are declining”.